Studies have shown that different species of enterococci have different susceptibilities to phagocytosis by neutrophils. There is evidence that a carbohydrate-containing moiety may be involved in resistance of E. faecium. Carbohydrate samples from different strains of E. faecium were subjected to chemical and NMR analyses. A structure for one major compound has been proposed -3)-?-L-Fuc(1-3)-?-D-Glc(1-4)-?-L-Fuc(1-4)-?-D-Glc(1-3)-?-L-Fuc(1-2=1A